Geneva moms seek cellphone-free schools

Two Williamsburg Elementary School mothers spoke to the Geneva School District 304 Board on Aug. 12 about the use of cellphones and devices, urging that schools be “phone free” not only to support learning but mental health.

Colleen Carreiro and Stephanie Amore cited a new book “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness” by Jonathan Haidt.

“The implications of smart devices in the classroom are significant ... and alarming,” Carreiro said. “We can look to our neighboring (St. Charles) District 303 for inspiration as they have successfully implemented K-8 policies through collaboration with their superintendent committee that includes parents and students.”

A group of about 20 Williamsburg moms read the book and met to discuss it. They branched out to include Wester Avenue moms and then hosted a gathering at a restaurant for 50 mothers, Amore said.

Amore said the book has four principles:

• No smartphones before high school

• No social media before age 16

• Phone-free schools

• More unsupervised play and childhood independence

Amore also cited U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, who also urged maintaining phone-free classrooms and settings “to enhance learning and social interactions.”

“One thing we established as a group of women is we’re not looking to parent anyone’s child,” Amore said. “The parents have to decide how they want to police their phone and smartphone usage at home. We want to talk to you today about why we think phone-free schools are important and why Geneva should consider it.”

Amore provided statistics from the book comparing 2010 to 2022 that connect increased cellphone and social media use with the rise in mental health issues. The statistics begin tracking shortly after the first iPhone was introduced in 2007.

For example, U.S. teens between the ages of 12 and 17 who reported one major depressive episode in the past year rose by 233% for girls and 288% for boys during that time frame. Among U.S. undergraduates with mental illness, those with anxiety rose by 233%, depression rose by 206% and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder rose by 172% between 2010 to 2019.

By 2015, one in five American teen girls used social media 40 hours a week.

Amore asked that the district create an advisory group with school officials, teachers, parents and students on the issue and come up with a formal policy.

Superintendent Andrew Barrett said the district does not encourage students to have cellphones or bring them to school.

“What the district is saying, if you have those at the elementary level, they need to be off and in your backpack during school,” Barrett said. “The practice at the middle school is the same, except the locker comes into play.”

To Carreiro’s point seeking more consistency in the way cellphone use is treated in school, Barrett said the district’s rules have been in place for a while but circumstances can get “a little gray” in some classrooms.

By setting expectations more explicitly, Barrett said, “There is no gray area on this. When you go into class, this is where it goes.”

“One of the things we would ask of parents is to help reinforce those expectations,” Barrett said, referring to the district’s rules about cellphones and devices.

“Another thing we would ask and encourage is to help model those good practices at home and institute those good practices at home,” Barrett said. “Sometimes that is easier said than done. But I also know if I want my kid to eat broccoli, I better eat broccoli at the dinner table.”

Barrett said he would encourage parents to look at their own management and monitoring practices with their children when it comes to their devices.

“For better or worse, this is 100% in our control. ... If you don’t want your kid to use it during the school day, well, first off, don’t give them one,” Barrett said. “But the other thing you can do is have it so it’s set to be turned off and not work, right? There are features that we can put in place that I think will help.”

Barrett also said administrators recognize they need to have conversations about cellphones for this school year and in the future.